


Propaganda

by pantropia



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 20:42:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8860330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pantropia/pseuds/pantropia
Summary: Neither the Rebellion nor the Empire are above using popular media as propaganda.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written the day after I had my heart ripped out at the midnight showing.  
> I couldn't sleep after the film. I am very very tired.

 

With a few hours before he could leave, the man whose papers identified him as Terel Jas decided to spend the time sitting comfortably in the darkness of a holo-theatre. He bought a ticket for a show that had attracted a crowd without looking at what it was. Several hours later he was still seething as the doors of the shuttle he had left the planet on opened to reveal the hangar of a Rebel base. Though he was careful to stick to the marked safe paths as he made his way towards the waiting base commander, he wasted no time on greetings.

 

“Have you seen what the Empire has done now?” he demanded.

 

“You'll have to be more specific. They do a lot of things”

 

“They've made a propaganda film about us stealing the plans for the Death Star.”

 

“Ah, you've seen it then,” she said as she started to lead him through the base. He'd spent only a day here before leaving again, so he couldn't be expected to find his own way. “It's very popular.”

 

“So I noticed from the applause,” he said bitterly. “How am I supposed to recruit anyone to our cause if they've seen that? 'Join the Rebellion! We're a tiny group of indiscriminate killers who can't communicate or plan worth bantha-fodder, so you'll probably die on your first mission, as will everyone you care about!' If we operated like that, we'd all be dead inside a lunar cycle! How am I supposed to convince anyone it's all a pack of lies?”

 

“Aside from telling them who you really are, you mean?” she said with a chuckle. “Could be tricky, seeing as you're officially dead.”

 

“I'm glad _you_ think it's funny,” he snapped.

 

“Oh it _is_ ,” she said, “It _really_ is. The Empire financed that holo and gave a general outline of what they wanted, mostly that it must look as though we routinely deal with criminals and that it took the majority of our forces to take those plans. They still have no idea how we _actually_ got hold of them, remember.”

 

“They've no idea so far as _you_ know.”

 

“We have our sources. The holo was made by an independent production company. One which understands how common people really think, just as well as they understand the Imperial mindset. The Empire believes that the 'characters' were chosen from the list of dead Rebels purely for the fact they look interesting together.”

 

“I'm sure that's a great comfort to everyone who was featured.”

 

“They all approved it _and_ had input. You would have been consulted too, if you had been contactable. Polv Destrel co-wrote the script and directed it.”

 

“You say that like the name should _mean_ something to me.”

 

“Doesn't it?”

 

He frowned, repeating it to himself as he thought. “Stardust?” he asked. “You don't mean...”

 

“I do. You've been a fighter for a long time, so you think that holo is about incompetent people dying for no good reason, as do the Imperial officers who commissioned it. But for _most_ people, it's a story of heroism and self-sacrifice by _people like them_. People who know they are nothing to a regime which will destroy entire planets on a whim. People who want their lives to have some significance and would rather die heroes than in a bar fight or farming accident.”

 

“You expect me to believe this will _help_ with recruitment?”

 

“We have proof. The Empire would never think to recruit from holo discussion forums. You'd be _amazed_ how many people have already joined because they want to destroy the Empire in memory of the dashing Captain Cassian Andor.”

 

“I think they're confusing me with Lando Calrissian,” he snorted. “How disappointed they would be to learn what I really look like.” He'd always wanted to be taller, more imposing. Clean-shaven he thought he looked like a child. It had its benefits, though - it was easy to get people to underestimate him.

 

“Actually, Jyn said she was disappointed to not be able to find an actor as appealing as the real thing,” the commander said, looking Cassian up and down meaningfully as she came to a halt.

 

“Jyn would flatter a _hutt,_ if it had something she wanted,” he said, rolling his eyes as the door opened. 

 

“So would you, if what it had would help the Rebellion,” K-2SO said from within as what appeared to be an Ewok shot out of the room and clamped itself to Cassian's leg. “And I'd _just_ got him to sleep, too.”

 

Cassian's anger melted away as he scooped his son up into his arms and carried him back to bed. He'd been afraid that he'd been away long enough that the boy would have forgotten him. K-2SO stepped forward and closed the door in the commander's face with a cheerful wave. Whatever she wanted, it could wait.

 

 


End file.
